TheBiscuits

Either name and shame or name and praise! Who is the boat you will continue to use? That's more polite than naming the other three!

That makes more sense than the earlier post - I was a bit surprised on first reading. Some boaters we expect that attitude from, but not the Joneses!

The boat moored next to me earlier today had a cunning trick: Large shackle fastened through the fender eye, and centreline fed through it as a low level spring. I liked the idea, but not enough to fit fender eyes in my gunwales! I think you missed Alan's "joke" Mike! (Using Springer boats as mooring pins because there is about the same amount of steel in them.)

Thanks both ... Yes! Brain fade on posting - I can't even blame that one on autocorrect. I think of it as being accurate rather than pedantic, as I used the wrong term for what I was discussing and it does matter in this case.

"You wrenched the line out of my hand at the speed you were doing ... Don't you slow down for moored boats?"

Is it actually a certificate, or a notice of failure? What does it say immediately after the line: "Did the boat meet all the applicable minimum safety requirements?" It will either be Yes or No!

It'd look nice with roses painted on it ...

That's a different boat .... Nofe Ixta Boad Built by Liverpool Boat Company - Length : 17.8 metres ( 58 feet 5 inches ) - Beam : 2.1 metres ( 6 feet 11 inches ) - Draft : 0.6 metres ( 2 feet ). Metal hull N/A Electric power of 10 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 517449 as an Electric Motor Boat. ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 )

Pictures please, that sounds interesting.

I'm not sure some of the older ones could take being hit with a hammer though. Well, not more than once anyway!

What "home port" should I put on the side of my (non-share) boat then? It's a boat without a home mooring ...

Well we didn't want to think they just knocked it on the head ...

Most of us wouldn't be able to hear them as we didn't tend to use ear defenders!

That's when scaffolding starts coming in handy as pins!

We had a pair of small ones on the Nauticus, and they work very well with long enough lines to keep the angle correct. Taking up an extra 100 feet of the visitor moorings makes you unpopular though.

What size of pins? 6 or 8 "normal" 18-inch pins won't hold as well as a couple of 3 feet long ones, especially if you cross them. Having said that, there are places when the ground is sometimes soft enough that you stab the pins in and they just sink in a couple of feet on their own without the hammer - that's rarely a good place to moor!

Like beating the snot out of any boatman who stole your lock? I've heard some tales about the "Wooden Boats and Iron Men" ...

... but only used about 45% of the time as far as I can tell!

The aforementioned chemistry teacher had a nice little demonstration using an empty syrup tin with a small hole in the top and bottom and a bunsen burner. Fill the tin with methane from the bunsen, then turn off the gas tap and light the escaping gas at the top hole. At first it burns slowly, like a small candle flame, then as the gas/air mixture reaches the explosive ratio the lid flies off with a satisfying bang. The day he put the lid on a bit too tight was very memorable, but the lab got new ceiling tiles and he was asked not to do it again!

I think you will get more support for the not slowing down proposal!

One of the wires is manual override, one is via the float switch and the other is neutral. You only need to connect 2 of the wires, either always on when plugged in or only on when there's enough water to trigger the float switch. See my earlier post for why it's not ideal for leaving connected to a cigar soçket. If it's a permanent installation, you could take the power from the connections behind the cigar soçket instead.

Heh. The only thing that could make that worse would be if it was the centreline. The artistic macramé is a nice touch though.

As an afterthought, unless you are always going to be operating it in person, the cigar plug is about the worst possible connector for a bilge pump, as they randomly disconnect themselves. If you will always be using it in person rather than leaving it connected this isn't an issue, but in that case you don't need to pay the extra for an automatic pump with a float switch.

Buy an automatic bilge pump and separately buy a cigar lighter plug (fused) and attach the one to the other?

I think rubbing Boy Scouts together is frowned upon these days. Still, they introduced me to the many uses of Potassium Permanganate. "No constable, it's for water purification so I can make a cup of tea when out hiking. That's what the sugar is for too. And the weak acid is mostly lemon juice because I like lemon in my tea." It's not like there are any other possible uses for this portable brew kit is it? These newfangled water purification bottles and filters have spoilt all the fun!